Theresa May close to securing British expats’ rights in Spain following meeting with Rajoy

THERESA MAY has edged closer to a deal that would guarantee the rights of British expats living in Spain.

In a meeting with the Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy this morning, Rajoy said he wanted an ‘early agreement’ on the issue.

The pair discussed the issue during an informal 25-minute meeting at an EU summit in the Maltese capital Valetta.

Mrs May has refused to confirm that some 3.2 million EU nationals can stay after March 2019 until she has the same guarantee for the 1.2 million Britons living in other EU countries.

Spain has the highest number of British expats, with at least 309,000 living there, although that figure could be much higher as many do not officially register.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “They discussed reciprocal rights and both agreed it was an area it would be good to get an early agreement on.”

During their talks this morning, Mrs May and Mr Rajoy “agreed that it was important to think about the future relationship as well as the detailed exit arrangement, so that we can give greater certainty for people and businesses who want to live and work in each other’s countries”, No10 added.

17 COMMENTS

I can’t think of a single reason why the current arrangement between the UK and Spain cannot continue in exactly the same that it does now and I think there should be complete freedom of movement between the two countries.

May should make a gesture of goodwill and offer Spaniards unlimited access to the UK employment market and offer to pay the full cost of healthcare for British retirees living in Spain. This will be mutually beneficial to both parties.

Good news and a practical approach from Mr Rajoy sadly the final decision will have to come from Brussels and the other 26 remaining members, we have already heard that a few are refusing to back this reciprocity. I would like to know the countries who are holding out on this being agreed. We need to know who our enemies are.

Stef, you are sounding more like a foreigner, an immigrant and not a person that is domicile in another country. Don’t worry, Britain will always look after you, not so sure about the German named Merkel.

This is just a charla informal.
It is the EU who has to decide.
And since May the unelected, Johnson the clown, etc dont want freedom of movement, the rights of the immigrants will not be worth anything

Pablo, sometimes I smile at your comments but this time I burst out laughing as you appear to venture your small brain to the brain of Johnson. Perhaps you should read the history of Boris Johnson. As for you quote “the rights of the immigrants will not be worth anything”, his once reply regarding this matter was “God did not give the right for people to choose where to live”. lol.

People clinging to the idea of Marie Le Pen being elected in France thereby taking the heat off Brexit are going to be disappointed. I’ve lived in France and have some insight into the French people and political system. Le Pen will likely win the first round, in the second round she will be soundly beaten when the French unite behind the other remaining candidate. Before people point out that Brexit was a surprise and the election of Trump came out of nowhere, the French first and foremost are European and founding members of what is now the EU they have done well out of the EU and they will not throw that away lightly.

Peter, the original concept of the EU cannot be compared to when France was one of the founding members and hope you realize why the change has been dominated, not by Brussels, but by Germany. Who instigated the Euro and for what reason, and why does Germany prop up the failing banks, and why is Germany upset about Trumps refusal to sign into the TTIP. Just stop and think before you congratulate the French political system. I always thought France was a democrat country, not any more, if so why not, if one feels that France is a democratic country and whoever wins top job have a referendum and I think you would be surprised at the results.
Britain does not need the results of a Le Penn, the British people have already decided, it’s the Brussels’s crowd who are afraid, not the French if given the chance.
As for the ludicrous amount the EU will be trying to get from the UK, the UK is well up to date regarding money paid into the EU coffers. Once the UK has left the remaining crowd will need to dig deeper to pay for their pension rights and the waste of money to the hangers on. Take note of Merkel’s sulking stance towards T.May because she was not first on the list for a Trump meeting.
BTW, has she or any of the democratically elected EU top dogs been invited to a meeting yet. The reason they are against Trump is because he does not fall in line with
the crumbling block and speaks the mind of a business person and not a political spin.

More disinformation from the Moaners, as usual. All costs incurred by Brits residing legitimately in Spain are paid by the UK government right now.

I live in France now and can say with certainty only the parasitic metros in the big cities are in favour of the EU, just like in the UK. I’m sure that the stupid lefties will vote for the Rothschild banker in the second round. When they find that the national debt will ramp up with Macron’s unfunded plans, they will not be happy – he plans to lower Social Security contributions for employers and employees – a system that is already hugely in debt. Keep the 35 hour week – insanity. Increase defence spending to 2% – more national debt. He wants to lower costs for the self employed – more national debt. Remember (1) he worked in investment banking – we all know how honest they are and (2) it was for Rothschild. He also fraudulently used €150,000 of tax payers money to fund his campaign. At least it was’nt nearly €1 million like the personally very wealthy Fillon, condemned by the words of his own wife in a 2007 interview with a Telegraph reporter.

Won ‘t it be ironic if the Romanians start something that could spread like a wildfire across Europe – they have made the corrupt scum in power in Romania back down on forgiving the corrupt, now they want them out. All it will take is the police to open fire on them or to bottle and join the people – interesting times indeed.

The thing, dear ignoramus x 1 billion, is that there are 1 million brits living is Spain.
And just 300.000 of them are “registrados”.
The rest, the “no registrados” are a burden for the country.
Surely you are one of them

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

To contact the newsdesk out of regular office hours please call +34 665 798 618
We are available over the Christmas and Easter holidays

Voted Spain‘s number one expat newspaper and second in the world, by 27,000 people polled by UK marketing group Tesca. “The best English newspaper in southern Spain,” according to the Rough Guide. The Olive Press is the English language newspaper for Andalucia. Local news from Costa del Sol and inland Andalucia plus national news from around Spain. A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge and growing expatriate community in southern Spain – 230,000 copies distributed monthly (160,000 digital impressions) with an estimated readership, including the website, of more than 500,000 people a month.